The Contentious Ten 04.11.11: Best In Your House Matches, Part 2

PLEASE NOTE: This list is Part Two of a two-part series, and only looks at the secondary run of In Your House shows where the In Your House name was the subtitle. These shows were three hours long and ran from September 7, 1997 (Ground Zero) to April 25, 1999 (Backlash).color=red>

This is a match that is often overlooked, and one that didn’t receive many favorable reviews when it first aired. Undertaker was the leader of the Ministry of Darkness; a group of heels that was formed when Taker returned from being buried alive in late 1998. He set his eyes on Stephanie McMahon, the only daughter of Vince McMahon and a character that was just beginning to get TV time. When Taker’s demands weren’t met, he would sacrifice someone on a cross. Ryan Shamrock, “sister” of Ken Shamrock, was one of those unfortunate enough to feel Taker’s wrath. Shamrock, being the protective “brother” he was, took it upon himself to get revenge, threatening to break Taker’s leg. The match itself was mainly a ground game with each man trying to prove himself with submission holds as opposed to high impact maneuvers. Despite the fact that everything in the match was technically sound, the crowd didn’t react very well to it; and who could blame them? It was quite different from what they had grown to expect out of a Taker match. Looking back on it though, the effort is definitely there and both men should be commended for experimenting with something new.

This match took place during what I feel was the best time period for the European Championship. D’Lo Brown and X-Pac were members of two opposing factions in the WWF at the time: The Nation and D-Generation X. Brown was a consistently entertaining champion who took the name of the title to heart, announcing himself as hailing from different European cities every week. Pac was the highflying spitfire of DX, and a former European champion. While guys like Steve Austin, Undertaker and Kane were main eventing in wild brawls, it was mid-card guys like Brown and Pac who would bring fantastic, fast-paced action as a counterbalance. This match was no different, and probably the best of their series during the Summer and Fall. Watch for a sick spot where Pac tries for a Bronco Buster only to take a hard boot to the nether region. If you listen to the crowd reactions, both guys were over; especially Brown, who just needed to give them a head wiggle for a pop.

The Steve Austin/Vince McMahon feud was at a fever pitch after Austin finally captured the WWF Championship at Wrestlemania 14. McMahon didn’t want a redneck champion, and Austin hated McMahon’s authority. During their first match ever, Dude Love interfered with a Mandible Claw on Austin, saving McMahon from the inevitable beating that was to come. As it turned out, McMahon had named Love the Number One Contender for the WWF Championship, and it led Austin to wonder whether they were working in cahoots. To top it all off, McMahon vowed to sit at ringside during the match; something he hadn’t done since the Montreal Screwjob. The match was, as you would expect, a brawl that went all over the ringside and entrance stage areas. Eventually, McMahon teased having the timekeeper ring the bell early, but was violently knocked out by an Austin chair-shot to the head. Austin retained without a referee, counting the pinfall with his own hand. While this wasn’t a technical classic, it was never dull and provided the first taste of what was to come during Austin’s championship reign.

Steve Austin had successfully won the WWF Championship for a second straight year at Wrestlemania, this time against The Rock. Something was missing though: his signature Smoking Skull Belt. While Vince McMahon was ready to give it back, Shane McMahon wasn’t as reasonable, handing it to Rock instead. What followed was the famous river plunge where Rock tossed both Austin and the Smoking Skull belt into the water; Rock holding a funeral for the supposedly drowned Austin; and Austin crashing the funeral with a monster truck. You know, the type of storyline developments we all came to remember the Attitude-era by. Add Shane as the Special Guest Referee and a No Disqualification stipulation, and we had our Wrestlemania 15 rematch set. As with all Rock/Austin matches, the intensity, explosive crowd, drama and brawling is all there. One part that stands out is Rock grabbing a WWF camera and filming himself taking a Stunner through a table. They definitely went on to have better matches, but this is just more verification of their chemistry, even in the early stages. In the end, Vince interferes on behalf of Austin to give him the win, and the Smoking Skull belt.

Del Wilkes, a former star college football player, portrayed the Patriot- a huge, masked babyface character clad in an American flag motif, coming out to what we would all eventually recognize as Kurt Angle’s entrance music. Heel 1997 Bret Hart was the natural opposition, and the storyline was basically set. Hart hated the United States. The Patriot had to defend the United States. While this took a backseat to the Shawn Michaels/Undertaker match on the same card, it more than held its own and was the better “wrestling” contest. Sure, Patriot was a little stiff and rough around the edges, but Hart walked him through it and managed to tell a classic story. Everybody in the arena wanted to see this brand new hero walk out champion, but Hart was just that much better. What I appreciate is Patriot trying to out-wrestle Hart during the first half of the match, only to have Hart knock some sense into him with the ring-post figure four.

Soon after the Triple Threat Cage match discussed below, The Rock would join the Corporation and embark on a lengthy feud with Mankind, culminating on PPV with this Last Man Standing match. While it doesn’t have the sick amounts of blood and memorable repeated chair shots to the head of their I Quit match, this match has great intensity and makes you feel the same sympathy for Mankind you felt in their previous encounters. His willingness to take punishment is once again on display, and it works plays perfectly well off of Rock’s cocky demeanor and lack of remorse. It relies on making the viewer desperately want to see Mankind give Rock a taste of his own medicine, and succeeds in spades. While the finish is a draw, it makes sense given the nature of their feud.

It all started when Shawn Michaels inadvertently cost Undertaker the WWF Championship at Summerslam 1997, knocking him out with a steel chair and giving Bret Hart the win. A second steel chair shot during an episode of Raw wasn’t as inadvertent, busting Taker open and setting up this match. Many times, people complain when two heated rivals who supposedly hate each other start a match off with a simple lock-up. This match went in the opposite direction with Taker beating on Michaels unmercifully before the opening bell. Michaels eventually gets the upper hand with the help of his newly acquired teammate, Triple H, but it still isn’t enough to put away the big man. The style we see in this match is very representative of what would come later in 1998 and beyond. It is also memorable for Taker’s over-the-top rope dive, a move which would later become a perennial Wrestlemania highlight.

It’s a real shame that this match is rarely mentioned when discussing the Attitude-era. It takes place inside a strange incarnation of the steel cage- one that had the old school blue bars, but was held together in one piece by a silver steel rim. You could win by pinfall, submission or escaping the cage and the winner would become the Number One Contender to the WWF Championship. The match is booked brilliantly, and makes the up-and-coming Rock look like an absolute star. In the opening stages, Rock tries to team with both Ken Shamrock and Mankind to take out the other, each time hilariously backstabbing his temporary partner. Eventually, both Shamrock and Mankind have enough of it and come together to double team Rock. It works perfectly to get the crowd almost 100% behind the People’s Champion, and makes the conclusion all the more satisfying. In the end, Mankind drills Shamrock in the head with a steel chair and begins to climb, only to have Rock sneak away with a pinfall victory on Shamrock. The entire match is structured in a way that it builds to the finish, guiding the crowd through increasing levels of excitement.

One month after their Unforgiven match, Steve Austin and Dude Love were at it again. This time, Vince McMahon brought along a few of his friends to stack the deck against Austin even more. For starters, McMahon would serve as the Special Guest Referee; Gerald Briscoe would be the Special Guest Timekeeper; and Pat Patterson would be the Special Guest Ring Announcer. To try and balance it out, Austin assigned Undertaker to serve as Special Ringside Enforcer. In spite of that, McMahon tries his damnedest to hurt Austin’s chances of retaining, changing the rules twice along the match to better suit Love. It is one of those circumstances where every character has to be very well-defined for the match to work. Every character has to have a clear-cut motive for their actions to make sense. In this case, it all comes together perfectly. It also worked because something like this hadn’t been done to that extent in the past, so it was fresh and new. It’s the reason later attempts at similar storylines didn’t worked out as well.

As if number one could have been anything else. Almost 14 years later, and this is still the best Hell in a Cell match. Unlike many other HIAC matches since, the original had a reason for the stipulation. It was organic. Shawn Michaels kept relying on his teammates to help him take out Undertaker, so they stuck them in a monstrous cage with a roof. They go non-stop for 30 minutes. They take a new concept match and exploit it in every way imaginable, finding ways to make the unique environment work in the context of their feud. They introduce spots we still see in HIAC matches today. Unlike with other “first-time” concept matches (i.e. the first Ladder match), you could put this very same match on today, and have it fit right in and feel new. In short, it is a perfect match.